


Sugar, Butter, Flour...

by ImTheGirlofManyFandoms



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Dessert & Sweets, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Pining, Reads Like A Hallmark Movie, The Title is a Waitress Reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 12:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16174856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImTheGirlofManyFandoms/pseuds/ImTheGirlofManyFandoms
Summary: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. This is one of those cases where that seems to be true.





	Sugar, Butter, Flour...

**Author's Note:**

> This is for nomorelonelydays on tumblr! Please go give her a look!

Geno stared at the open, pink cardboard box on Gonch’s counter. Inside sat a large, perfectly golden browned piece of sharlotka- apple cake, dusted with powdered sugar over the top of the cake and the pattern of apple slices and almond slices baked into the top. He had never seen one look so good before.

“Sergei, where did you get that?”

Gonch smiled as he cut a piece from the chunk of cake. “I don’t know if I should say. The dietician would not approve of the cheating. Say you will get fat if you even take a step out of bounds from season diet.”

The younger rolled his eyes. “Not going to go and immediately come back out of shape, Sergei. Where did you even find sharlotka in Pittsburgh?”

“Bakery downtown.” he said. “Called T and S Bakery”

“T and S?”

Gonch nodded. “Don’t know why, but it’s so good that you don’t question it. The baker is kind too. And single, Zhenya. His name is Sidney. You would like him.”

Geno groaned. “Sergei…”

He chuckled. “I’m just saying, Zhenya.”

“Whatever.” Geno eyed the cake. “Can I try some?”

His mentor smiled. “The wife would kill me. It’s her favorite now. You should stop by for yourself tomorrow.”

He huffed. “Alright, if you say so.”

“There. Not so hard, was it?” he said. “Now, it’s getting late. You have practice tomorrow and I have to work. I will see you in the morning, yes?”

Geno shrugged. “If you wish to rid me that easily. Will see you again tomorrow though.”

“Goodnight, Zhenya.”

-

Practice went same as always. Skate, routine, skate, more routines, listen to coach, stretch, get off ice, drink some Gatorade, media, shower, get dressed. The only thing that went out of the daily routine in Pittsburgh was the drive to the bakery after practice.

It was a quaint little storefront. A nice decal on the large front window, warm lights on inside, it looked nice, however empty.

He pushed open the door to be greeted with the tinkling of the small bell above him, the scents of vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar wafting through the air. It was warm, inviting, just as any bakery seemed to be. Only, this one felt different somehow.

Geno walked up to the pastry display case, looking down at the countless cookies, pastries, and cakes inside. German chocolate cake, a cherry cheesecake, peanut butter cookies with a jam filling, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, something labeled “oatcakes” drizzled with chocolate, and a lot of others. Then there was a perfect sharlotka, sitting there untouched, dusted carefully with just the right amount of powdered sugar. It looked incredible.

He looked around. “Hello? Anyone here?”

“I’ll be right there!” he heard a man call from the back. “Just one second!”

“No, no, take time!” he said. “Only practice today. Nowhere to be but home after.”

He heard something slide onto metal- likely metal-on-metal- and then the heavy thud of an oven door. Then came the quick sound of footsteps. Then came a man walking up to the case and the counter. And Geno’s eyes went wide.

He was easily the prettiest person Geno had ever seen. Dark, slightly curly hair, plump pink lips, and eyes like… well, more unlike anything Geno’d seen before. He looked flustered and rushed.

“Goodness, I am so sorry.” he said. “It seems like my whole team has-” he froze, going bright red from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. “Oh my God.”

For a split second, Geno almost forgot how to speak whether it was English or Russian “I um… Is everything okay?”

“Y-y-yeah, i-it’s fine… I just uh… wow, uh…” he blundered through. “You’re uh… You know…”

Oh. That made a lot of sense. This place was so small that the only other “star” he had probably had come in was Sergei. “Oh. Yes, I am me. Evgeni. Is nice to meet you.”

“Y-you too.” he said, regaining himself, putting a gorgeous smile on. “Sidney. My name is Sidney.”

“Sidney. Is nice name”

He went a little redder. “Oh, thank you. My mom picked it… So, what brings you by?”

“Friend told me you have sharlotka.” he said. “Saw it in his house and told me to stop by for myself.”

“Oh! You must mean Mr. Gonchar.” Sidney smiled and went to the case. When was the last time Evgeni heard someone call Sergei “Mr. Gonchar”? Not even fans called him so formally. “He came in the other week to get something to take home. I think he said one of his girls got Student of the Month at school and it was a reward for her. Then he saw that and took half of that cake home too. He came back in just the other day for more.”

Geno smiled. He remembered him being so proud of his Victoria for that. “Yes, I mean him. How much?”

“Don’t you want to try a little first?”

Geno cocked his head. “Try?”

“Yeah, I always let newcomers try a little before making a proper choice. If it’s a cake like that, I just take a little off the outside or from the edge and let them try just so I don’t ruin the image. You want to have a taste?”

Geno nodded. “Sure, I would like that, actually. Thank you.”

Sidney smiled softly, opening the back door to the display and pulling out the cake. “Bake all of this fresh every day.”

Geno eyed everything in the case. “You make all of this? Every day?”

Sidney nodded. “Yep. Wake up at around 4 in the morning to get to work by 5 and hop to it. Naturally it’s not just me, goodness no. I couldn’t do this all by myself. I have 4 people who come in. They’re sweet… but I do most of it. Make sure everything is safe and baked through, I prep the icing… come to think of it I actually probably could do this all. But they’re all so sweet I couldn’t possibly tell them otherwise. Besides, they do good work.

“We open the doors at 8 after all. Don’t close until 6:30. So that’s over 10 hours. But it’s worth it. We make a lot of people happy, good for late pickups, which is great for a lot of people and their schedules. And that makes me and the rest of the coworkers happy.”

“What do you do with what you don’t sell?”

“We donate it.” He said, grabbing a small knife. “They’re allowed to take what they want home every night after closing. Once they’re done, we pack everything into the vans and donate it to the shelters. It’s a good feeling to know we could make someones’ hard day even just a bit better with a piece of cake or a cookie.”

He gently cut a small bit of cake from the bottom and used a toothpick to pierce it, handing it to Geno. “Here. Take a taste and tell me if you want to take some home with you.”

Geno popped the small bit into his mouth and it was enough to tell him that this was no ordinary cake. This was the softest cake with thin slices of apple mixed in. It was sweet, but not too sweet, slightly vanilla’d, and just the perfect texture. It was like the kind he got at home.

Sidney stared, a bit eager. “Well?”

Geno smiled. “How much?”

Sidney smiled, “a slice is only about six-“

“No no, I mean whole cake.”

“The… whole cake?”

“Yes, whole cake. Is what I’m say, yes?”

“Yeah, but are you sure?”

“Positive. Tastes like home. Can’t get that anywhere else.”

Sidney blushed a bit and beamed. “I’ll set this in a box and ring you up.”

Best $35 he’s ever spent.

-

Over time, he gets to know Sidney a bit better. Learn little quirks and facts. Like how the T and S in his bakery’s name stood for “Trina and Sidney” after his mother as they had spent a lot of time as a kid in the kitchen. She’d ultimately been the one to help him adjust after the Accident.

The Accident was when he was a teenager. He was a hockey player-“ and a damn good one too!” according to what he said his family would say- and maybe even had the potential of going pro that was able to be seen from a young age. But before he could even make it to proper Major Juniors, he got blindsided and demolished by a defenseman in a playoff game at 13. The hit left him concussed with a broken nose and a sprained ankle from where he had hit the boards. He never wanted to touch the ice again after that.

“It took me a long time to adjust,” he admitted to Geno one day, sifting powdered sugar over a tart. “I didn’t leave my room. Only for school and the bathroom, really… everything I had worked hard for was just… gone. Just in the blink of an eye.”

It was hard for Geno to listen to and to keep his composure.

Sidney then told him how his mother brought him into the kitchen. She would let him watch her make cookies and such. And if she wasn’t the one bringing him out directly, it would be the smells. She started baking with him again. Helping him prep the mise en place before getting started, mix, teaching him little secrets and tricks that her own mother taught her. It was her own way of helping him adjust and heal. He went to college and got a degree in Business Management with a minor in entrepreneurship. He finally saved up enough after working with a couple different bakeries to set up his own shop just a couple years ago.

“But tell me, why Pittsburgh? Is not as nice as how you describe Home to be.”

Sidney shrugged. “I just… needed change. Tell me, why did you leave Mag… Magnito… Magni-“

“Magnitogorsk?”

“There.” He signed. “I’m working on pronunciation, I swear.”

“I know. Is better than the first time you tried.” He chirped. “But… I did because I have to. Don’t regret making-”

“Oh BS.” Sidney laughed- god Geno was never tiring of that laugh. It was this odd little honk that he hadn’t heard before but was so endearing- “I read that article and so did everyone else. You literally snuck out of Russia to come here.”

“And I would do it again!” He added. “But… I suppose you are right. Risked my ass to get here. Did it. Now I am where I am.”

“Stanley Cup champion, award-winning captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins.” Sidney said, putting the sieve down. “Not the worst life at all.”

“Not by any means.” He smiled, taking a sip of the tea. “So… you have someone?”

Sidney looked down at the snowy-looking berry tart before him. “Uh…. well… no.”

Geno scoffed. “You not have someone? How? How someone pass you up? Any girl would be lucky to have a man with this kind of skill. Especially for sweets.”

Sidney kept his gaze low. “Well, I used to. But he and I just didn’t work, you know?”

He.

He. Not she. A clear and concise he. That simple word stuck in Geno’s mind. He. Sidney said he. He was attracted to boys. He’d had a boyfriend. Why was that so prominent to him?

“Oh.” He said. “Sorry, I’m not mean to pry too much.”

Sidney picked up a sprig of mint and placed it onto the tart. “No no, it’s fine. You just asked. It’s okay… what about you?”

Geno shrugged. “Looking, I guess. Need to find one that make mama happy.”

“I see.”

Geno smiled. “She wants to make sure I’m “taken care of”. Like I’m not take care of myself just fine. Want grandbabies.”

Sidney smiled and looked at the clock. “You should get going. Don’t want you to miss your pregame nap. Go.”

-

Weeks went on and he was stopping by more infrequently. He didn’t want to bother Sidney at work, so he instead would send him a message. Sidney occasionally shot him a “good game” text after a particularly good win. He even started adding more to the bakery.

Geno peered into the case one odd day he went in. “Are those turbochki?”

Sidney gave him a nod. “Yeah. I tried making them the other day and they turned out great. Figured I should try making more Russian stuff since people like you and Gonch come in more. You wanna try one?”

He ended up taking a small bag of them home along with another couple slices of cake. What the trainers don’t know won’t kill them and it’s not like he isn’t eating vegetables and protein or working the calories off anyways.

He felt bad about lacking in frequency, but he didn’t want to bother Sidney. He was so sweet and practically ran the place on his own. He didn’t want to distract him or make things weird.

He still couldn’t stop thinking about what Sidney has said though. About the “He”. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about it?

He relayed it to Gonch who just shook his head.

“Zhenya, you need to read yourself. Seriously.”

He furrowed his brows. “Why do you mean by that?”

Sergei just gave him a look and smiled softly “figure it out for yourself, Zhenya.”. Then he hung up.

Geno put his phone on his chest and wondered.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

-

He smiled at the girl next to him as they walked into the bakery one late afternoon. “I’m tell you, this place is wonderful.”

“It seems cute. Smells wonderful.”

Her name was Kat. She was a nurse practitioner at UPMC who Geno had met our if the blue. She was pretty and smart, had a nice laugh. She was kind too, from what Geno could tell from now.

He saw Sidney at the counter and smiled. “Hey Sidney!”

Sidney grinned. “Geno, Hey-“

Then he stopped for a sec, noticing Kat at his side.

Something seemed to change. Just in the slightest, but he could tell. Something went off. He was still smiling though. So it was probably nothing.

“Sidney, this is my date, Katrina. Kat for short.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh. It’s nice to meet you, Kat.” He said. “So uh… what can I do for you?”

“We would like 2 pieces of the cheesecake and how about some coffee?”

Sidney nodded and went to fetch it for them while they went to sit down. Something didn’t sit right with Evgeni though. Maybe it was just some shock of seeing him come in with someone else? Or seeing him come in for the first time in a couple weeks? Maybe that. Probably that.

-

Geno starts going less frequently once the season starts to really get going. He hardly goes at all anymore, really. Maybe once or twice a month, if he doesn’t just ask Gonch. Every now and then he’ll stop and pick up cake and maybe some cookies, but Sid seemed to have changed.

It was December now and he and Kat decided not to see each other anymore. It just didn’t look to be going in the way either of them hoped. Both were too busy at their jobs for the kind of relationship that they wanted. Life resumed as normal, as if nothing happened.

Something still felt off with Sidney. Something just wasn’t the same anymore. He still didn’t know why.

He decides to stop going to the bakery and focus on his hockey.

-

It’s late December when he hears muttering from Gonch before a game.

“Dammit, come on.”

“Hm?” he turned his head to his mentor. “What? Baseball trade go bad? You lose bet?”

“No, Xenia says that the bakery stopped selling the sharlotka. She stopped by this afternoon and the girl at the counter said they stopped selling it a week ago. Damn.”

Geno was confused. “Sidney stopped selling the cake? Why?”

Gonch shrugged, a little frustrated. “Yeah and I have no idea. Neither did the girl at the bakery. Maybe it wasn’t bringing in the profit he thought it would or something. Now I have to make it again. Won’t be as pretty though.”

That was… a bit troubling honestly. Sidney really seemed to enjoy making that cake and the turbochki. Come to think of it, if he stopped selling the cake, he probably stopped selling those too. Something felt wrong. He went back to taping his stick.

-

It ended in a shootout, barely beating Washington 4-3. Geno got an assist on a goal for Jakey, but that was it apart from getting 2 penalties and drawing one.

By the time he’d done press, showered, and gotten re-dressed, it was close to 11:15. He was tired as usual and got into his car… But he wondered still.

On his drive back home, he noticed something as he drove past T & S Bakery.

A light was on in the back.

He thought about it for a second and flipped a U-turn. What he checked wouldn’t hurt him, unless it was a robber… What if it was a robber? Would he be a hero to Sidney then? Maybe that would make him feel better? Potentially so.

He pulled over next to a meter and got out, looking around. No one there. He walked up to the door and tested it. Surprisingly, the door opened, the bell tinkling above. Sidney always locks the door. He was nothing if not a man of routine.

He stepped inside carefully. He could just hear noises from the back, clacking of metal tins on oven racks and then the slam of the large oven door. The smell of something sweet in the air. Vanilla maybe.

He continued making his way into the back, he could hear something. Crying, perhaps?

‘Who’s crying?’ he thought. ‘Why would someone be crying?”

He got to the back door and peeked inside of the workroom.

He found Sidney standing alone at one of the metal work tables with an industrial tray full of fresh from the oven, still-in-the-pan sharlotka cakes. Another 2 regular sized trays full of perfect turbochki sat right next to it. Geno furrowed his brows and thought to himself until he was pulled back in when he heard Sidney sniffle.

“Stupid brain… Stupid fantasy….”

Fantasy?

Geno crept forward from the dark. “Sidney?”

Sidney jumped about half a foot into the air and looked up. It was then that he noticed that Sidney’s bright eyes were plain and angry red, swollen and puffy. His cheeks were stained with wet tracks. He’d been crying over something.

“G-Geno… how did-“

“Saw the light on… I got worried. More worried when I found the door open. Thought something was happening.”

Sidney sniffled and wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Oh… you should get home. It’s late and- and God, what if there was someone? You could have gotten hu-“

“Sidney, why are you crying? And why are you up at 11:30 making cakes? You should be home too. Don’t “you should go” me again.” He looked at the confections. “Gonch tell me you stop selling this stuff last week anyways. Is everything okay?”

He gave a broken laugh. “Yeah… yeah, it’s… everything’s just great. I just thought I should start selling it again. Some people asked me to… How’re you and Kat?”

“We broke it off last week. Just wasn’t going where we hoped it would. Too busy. But that’s not important right now. You’re not okay.” He was growing more worried, walking over to the other side of the metal table, the tray of cakes sitting between them in their ring molds. “You should be home asleep and you up making cakes. Come on. Something is wrong.”

“It just… I just…” he gave another one of those broken laughs. “I just let myself get caught up in this… this stupid little fantasy I was weaving in my head. And I thought that maybe i had some lucky chance that it would come true. But nothing really does, G. Nothing. Not hockey, like how I planned it as a kid, not this, and not… not really anything”

“Sidney-”

“Geno, I thought that for once in my life, maybe someone felt the same about me as I did about them. So I kept trying… I kept baking and hoping they would like me back. That I wouldn’t be alone anymore. Finally have someone who is important to me and who thinks I’m important to them too. But then… What else? I get my heart broken and he stops coming by and has someone and-”

Oh…

That’s really when it clicked for Geno. Sidney was talking about him. And he had been thinking about him. Baking for him, trying to make him come in more often. And the reason Geno couldn’t stop thinking about Sidney wanting to date a “he” was because he wanted to be that “he”.

He took a breath as Sid kept rambling.

“Sidney, Sidney stop.”

Sidney paused and sniffled. “Why? What for?”

“You mean me, don’t you?”

He had more tears running down his face. “And what if I do? You’re just gonna walk out that door. Besides, hockey guys don’t date other-”

He kissed him.

It was one way to get him to stop and another way to tell him. It was like killing two birds with one stone.

His lips were soft, slightly sweet.

Oddly enough, it was Sidney who pulled away, looking shocked, hazel eyes wide.

“I… but… h-huh?”

“Just clicked for me now too. I know.” he sighed. “I’m sorry it took long.”

“But… you’re-”

“I know. Does it seem like I’m care? I drove here to check and now I’m kiss you in bakery. Is almost midnight now. Should be asleep. Both of us. And yet, I’m here. I grab you by apron straps and kiss you.”

“But what if-”

“We’ll deal with that when we get there.” he shrugged. “Nothing I can’t handle and you have been through worse, from what you have told me. We will be okay…What are you doing tomorrow night?”

Sidney looked at the trays of sharlotka and turbochki between them. “Hopefully not this again…”

Geno gave a soft smile. “At least you don’t have to prepare them all for tomorrow now… How about dinner?”

“Dinner sounds good.” Sidney smiled back. “Bakery closes at 6:30.”

“Can I pick you up at 7 once it’s all cleaned up?”

“7 sounds perfect.”

-

Geno walked into the door of his house to the smell of sugar in the air and small giggles, both coming from the direction of the kitchen.

“Nuh-uh! That can’t be how you and papa met!”

“Yeah! He said he swept you off your feet! Like in Disney movies!”

He heard his husbands dorky laugh. “Oh did he?”

“Yeah! That’s what he said!”

He quietly made his way to the kitchen, standing in the doorway to find his husband, two out of three kids, and a fresh cake out of the oven.

“I thought I said not to tell daddy about what I told you?”

Tanya grinned and ran to him, her 3 year old brother Dimitri following behind. “Papa!!! You’re home!”

He knelt down gently and hugged the kids. “Hi, darlings.” He looked up to see his husband of the past 7 years looking at him with a smile. “Hi, my dear.”

“Hey handsome.” he smiled, watching him stand back up, leaning in to kiss him.

Geno smiled and pulled away once Tanya started squealing about “papa and daddy having cooties.”. “Is Anast-”

“Napping and currently bottle-drunk.” he smiled. Anastasia was the littlest one who they adopted from Ukraine. 6 months old and a sweet angel, while Tanya and Dimitri were via surrogate. Their perfect family.

He smiled and listened to his family talk about all he missed while he was at work while the sharlotka cooled on the countertop.


End file.
